Inscription band in Islamic textiles, or fabric with an inscription band added in a technique different from the ground weave. Derived from the Persian word for embroidery, the term originally designated any embroidered ornament. In the early Islamic period textiles were often decorated with inscriptions containing good wishes and the caliph's name and titles, and these fabrics were made up into robes of honour worn by the caliph or bestowed by him as official gifts. Hence the word came to refer to inscription bands done in embroidery or any other technique and the fabrics or garments on which they were found. Tiraz also referred to the workshops in which these fabrics were made, a synecdoche for dar al-tiraz ('factory for tiraz'). In later times the word tiraz was also used to refer to the long bands inscribed with the ruler's name and titles that were written across the fa?ades of major buildings, as at the mausoleum of Sultan Qala'un in Cairo (1284-5).
See the Abbreviations for further details.
